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Posted by Justin Miller on 12:52:22 08/13/12
A good day at Green Cay Saturday - I debated not going due to the threat of rain. Parking lot was completely empty at 12:30pm when I arrived, and the bobcat female adult was roaming across the entrance by the bike rack. I took that as a good omen, as I rarely get to see them there.
First time since Spring that I've seen the pied-billed grebes back - there were at least half-a-dozen...several right by the main building to the right. At the east end of the boardwalk on the dead tree stump was a belted kingfisher sitting up there with a cormorant and an ibis...I also haven't seen them since late spring. As I was watching the male sitting there, a female flew by and he flew up after it, they circled around, and landed back on the stump. So at least a pair of them were there.
Least bitterns are starting to thin out - the babies have all left the nest in the back, but several younger looking bitterns are still often fishing the reeds at the north end. I spotted 4, down from the usual dozen or so. Spoonbills have continued there off and on for the summer - two were there again Saturday. Chimney swifts are still in abundance in the skies there. On the palm tree stump just to the left of the main building's entrance, a red-bellied woodpecker has made a nest out of a hole that faces the boardwalk, just 15 feet off - you get great looks of her heading to the hole, and the babies jamming their heads out for food every time she arrives.
Finally, upon heading home and hitting my pool to cool off (In Boca), I saw a large group of 20-30 medium sized birds with very pointed wings and white bars on the ends of the wing, with a chevron of white on the chests...small beaks - I hadn't ever seen these before, but I suspected nighthawks based on everyone's descriptions of them - I looked up common nighthawks and confirmed. I cannot recall ever seeing those around my home before - they stuck around for 5-6 minutes, swooping around in arcs.
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